Achoo
by ForeWARNE
Summary: Baron's sick. Haru's sick. How did everybody get sick? Common colds or not, these two will face it together. AN: I suck at humor. But I tried for the fun of it. (BARONxHARU)
1. Chapter 1

"Achoo." A sneeze escaped. The sneezes have been going on for twenty minutes and everyone within the vicinity was already fed up with them.

It was early afternoon in the Japan. People were bustling and hustling, to and fro, to their destinations. A peaceful, yet modestly productive day for everyone who was outside and enjoying the sun's rays as they shined down upon the country. However, not everyone was as lively this day.

"Achoo." Another of the dreadful sounds escaped. These sounds were thought to be dreadful in the minds of an overly-weighted white cat and an overly-sized black crow. They turned their heads and focused their eyes on the culprit who had been erupting said dreadful noises.

"Really, Baron? Do you have to 'spray' that everywhere?" Muta complained. Baron woke up this morning with an annoying headache. His nose kept sniffling from all the sneezes he had let out, and his whole body ached for no particular reason. The dapper cat just looked at Muta.

"My apologies…(sniffle)… Muta. I can't really… (cough)… control where I aim. (sniffle)" Baron said sarcastically. He pulled out a handkerchief from his coat pocket and wiped his nose with it. Actually, multiple tissues and handkerchiefs littered the Bureau's floor with how many he had already used. The orange cat pulled his coat closer to his body as he started shivering slightly from the faint breeze. He had no idea how he ended up with this cold, and he was nowhere near close to being fond of it. A few coughs came out of Baron as he accidentally let go of the white fabric in his hand. Gazing down at the handkerchief on the floor, he didn't bother to clean up his mess as he sighed and leaned back into his chair. Muta and Toto couldn't do anything for the half-cat, so they just looked at him in pity.

"Isn't there like a medicine you could take to help with this cold of yours?" the fat cat asked, pleading hinted in his voice. He was getting really annoyed with Baron's endless sneezes.

"Medicines don't work on Creations, puffball. All we can do is live through this like normal." The black crow stated. Baron just looked at the other two members inside as he groaned in annoyance, from the soon to start argument, and pain, from his throat hurting.

"You wanna run that by me again, chicken wings." Muta insulted. Toto just looked at him with irritation.

"You really need to get your brain checked out. If you have one, that is." Toto remarked. Before they could continue, another sneeze came from Baron, silencing their argument before it could escalate. Baron breathed heavily as he closed his eyes, hoping that his sickness would just disappear in the blink of an eye. With all the magic he contained within himself, a simple cold got the best of him. The cat and crow just sighed at the sight before them.

"Maybe we should take you to Haru." Toto offered. Baron opened up his eyes and looked at Toto.

"I don't want to… (sniffle)… bother her with… (sniffle)… something as simple… (cough)(cough)… as this." He remarked, sighing as another sneeze worked its way out of him.

"Well we don't really have any other options considering the state you're in." Toto responded. With a huge sigh and a very big cat's yawn, Baron stood up and slowly walked to the doors. Thinking what he was doing, Toto jumped out of the window and onto the cobblestone ground as Muta kept a distance from the gentle-cat. He didn't want to end up sick like the one in front of him.

Gripping a few of Toto's feathers, Baron struggled to try and get on the crow's back. However, he failed to realize how much numbing pain his body was in. With a soft sigh, Baron fell to his knees as his legs gave out on him. His body was really weak as the sickness spread throughout his system. He was really tired. Toto gave Baron a sympathetic sigh. He wasn't used to seeing his friend so helpless and weak like this. Turning his head to look at the big white cat behind him, Toto gestured for assistance. Muta just grunted as he walked up to the collapsed Baron and grabbed him by his waist. Being as gentle as he could, Muta placed Baron on top of Toto's back. As soon as he let go, Baron's body gave out and gently collided his head with the back of the crow's neck, breathing heavily and looking red as a beet.

"I'll fly him to Haru's while you go and see King Lune. Maybe there's something for Baron that can help him get over this sickness." Toto said. With that, he took off into the air while being careful with his passenger as much as he could. The journey itself wasn't as long, but all the coughs erupting from Baron made it seem longer than it took. Toto knew his friend was in terrible shape. He just hoped Haru could help.

In the small house of a certain brunette, a loud groan of stress and suffering erupted into the silent air that made up the household. Haru had just gotten home from school, earlier than usual. She had come down with her best friend's cold from a weak ago. The girl was excused from the rest of the school day, but the walk back towards her home made her feel worse than ever. She pulled out a tissue from the fourth box she had on her desk as she struggled to use her vision properly and look at the equations of her homework. Her studies were going nowhere with how sick she felt, and she didn't want to fall behind because of it. In reality, she wasn't even behind by a longshot, but this cold was messing with her thought process.

Gently laying her head upon her propped-up arm, she continuously tried to look at the symbols that made up her homework, getting nowhere near as finished than she was an hour ago. Her head collapsed out of her grip as she crossed her arms and laid on the desk with disappointment. Unknowingly, her mother entered her room and looked at the sight that her daughter was in.

"Haru, I told you to rest up. You need to be in bed. And you haven't even gotten out of your school uniform yet." Naoko informed. Haru turned her head to look at her mother.

"I'm sorry. But Baron would never forgive me if he saw me falling behind in my schoolwork." Haru complained. The brunette had introduced her mother to the Creation about four weeks ago. Sad to say, her mother fainted at the sight of the small town and its inhabitants, but after a few hours of getting to know everyone, Naoko understood why her daughter had been disappearing a lot. She was skeptical at first about her daughter's feelings towards the Cat Creation, but then began to see her perspective with his gentlemanly manners and caring for Haru.

"Baron, also, wouldn't forgive you if he saw that you were wasting yourself away by not resting and letting your mother take care of you." She argued right back. She must've won the argument because Haru got up from her desk and made her way towards her bed. In a few seconds, the brunette plopped onto the mattress and groaned from the impact. Smiling at her daughter's behavior, Naoko picked up the fallen tissues with a trash bag and took them out of the room.

"I'll be back with some tea while I make some soup. Just try and get some rest for now." She said. The grunt and three coughs she heard from the teenager were the confirmation she needed as she exited out of the room and back downstairs.

A few minutes after, Haru heard a tapping on her window. Slowly raising her head in pain, she turned to see a familiar black crow on her sill. Smiling weakly, she pushed the window open and beckoned the crow into her home.

"Hi, Toto." She said in a muffled whisper as she covered her mouth in a yawn, followed by a sneeze. Toto looked at the girl with skepticism. 'Don't tell me she's sick too.'

"Hello, Haru." He responded, looking at the girl as a few coughs escaped her throat. "Are you alright?"

"It's just a cold, but I'll be fine. Why are you here?" she asked, her eyes half open. The crow sighed.

"I was hoping you could help with something." He said, looking back to his passenger. Haru didn't see what he was looking at, considering she was too busy covering another yawn that escaped her.

"What did you need help with?"

"Apparently, there are two people that I now know of that are sick as sick can be."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm talking about you and Baron." With the mention of Baron, Haru snapped out of her sleepy state and looked at the crow with wide eyes.

"Baron's sick? Well then, let's go." She proceeded to rush out of her room before the crow got her attention once again.

"There's no need. He's on my back." He said. As soon as the words got to Haru, she finally noticed the slouched figure on Toto's back. Making her way back to the bed, she placed her hand open in front of the crow. With a shake of Toto's feathers, Baron's sleeping figure slid off the crow and into the human girl's hand, his arms and legs dangling from the position he was in. Haru just looked at the heavily breathing figure in her hand as she saw how weak and helpless he looked.

"I guess we both have a cold." She obliviously stated. After a few seconds, Baron's body began to glow and grow to human height in front of them. The sudden growth spurt led Haru to fall off the bed and Toto to fly out of the way and onto the desk. Baron woke up with a jolt and the fatigue settled in. he gripped his head in pain and looked at his surroundings. It was then that he saw the figure on the floor.

"Oh dear, Miss Haru. Are you alright?" he asked as he moved to help her up off the floor. As soon as they were on their feet again, Haru stumbled and leaned into Baron. Their combined weights and Baron's numbing body was too much for them to stand up as they collided onto the bed once again in one awkward movement. You couldn't tell with how sick they were, but the fact that Haru was on top of Baron was enough to make them blush madly. How they ever got into this predicament was beyond everyone in the room. But no one was really complaining, until a flurry of coughs and sneezes escaped from the two figures on the bed. Baron and Haru just looked at each other in heated sickness.

'How did I get myself into this?' they both thought, unaware of the other.


	2. Chapter 2

"Achoo." Once again, another sneezed erupted from the girl. After about two minutes of awkwardness settling into their systems, Haru and Baron were now sitting on her bed, their backs against the wall as they proceeded to sneeze and cough most of the day away. No one could really tell who was in a worse state than the other, but it didn't stop the colds from making their way into the open space that made up Haru's room. Baron's eyes were closed shut tightly from the headache pounding against his skull as he breathed heavily, his head resting against Haru's temple. In a normal sense, Haru would've been shocked beyond words that she was this close to Baron, but considering how terrible she felt, both physically and mentally, she could care less how close they were since they were already sick. It was as if their day couldn't get any worse than it was right now, since Toto had taken his leave back to the Bureau for something important. More like he didn't want to stay in a room with two sick people.

"Achoo." Baron sneezed, accidentally to his right and upon Haru. Haru wiped the sneeze away from her face as she grabbed a tissue from the box in between their bodies. She held it up to Baron, and he slowly took it from her, blowing his nose. The dapper cat looked back at the human girl.

"I'm terribly sorry for sneezing on you, Miss Haru." He apologized. She just waved her hand in front of her face.

"Don't worry about it, Baron. It's not as if I could get any worse. Unless you count pneumonia." She said, a small laugh coming out. The brunette noticed the panicked fear that made its way upon Baron's facial features. He was also slightly shaking from the thought of Haru having pneumonia. She gritted her teeth in worry.

"I'm kidding, Baron. It's a rarity for anyone to get that disease from a simple cold." She quickly added. She didn't want to worry Baron more than he already was. What she didn't expect was for the cat to wrap an arm around her shoulders, pull her into his chest, and lay his chin completely upon the top of her head.

"I do hope you are right. If anything happened to you as terrible as that seems, I would never be the same again." He confessed. The cold was messing with his thoughts, which meant he probably didn't know, or would remember, what he just said. But, that wasn't the case for Haru.

Haru could feel an intense heat rise up in her face. It actually helped to offset the shivering she was emitting from the cold air. She never thought that Baron could care for her as much as she just heard. Feeling a bit uncomfortable, she disentwined herself from Baron's embrace and set her mind to something else. Baron opened his eyes to the empty feeling he had in his arms and torso, noticing that Haru was moving to the edge of the bed.

Baron felt slightly confused by the girl's actions. He wondered if he said something to offend her in any form. His thoughts halted as two sneezes escaped from his nose. He didn't even care that he used his sleeve to wipe his nose. After a few seconds of inner thoughts, he shuffled to the edge of the bed, next to Haru.

"Are you alright?" he asked. A few coughs erupted from the girl as he placed his hand on her upper back before she turned to look at him. She looked redder than she did before.

"No worries. I'm fine. It was just getting a little too hot for me when I was in your arms." She replied. If it weren't for the fur, you would probably see Baron's whole face turn red in embarrassment. He brought his hand to the back of his head before a few coughs came from him this time. Both of them were in really, terrible condition. Feeling a little too cold, Baron pulled his coat closer to his torso as he felt the shivers return into his body. Noticing his actions, Haru pulled one of her spare blankets on her bed and placed it around the cat's shoulders. Baron nodded and smiled at the girl for the gesture before they went into another flurry of coughs and sneezes. This small silence continued on until the door to Haru's room started opening. There, standing in the doorway, was Haru's best friend, Hiromi.

"Hiromi… what are you… (cough)(cough)… doing here?" Haru asked. She didn't understand why Hiromi was here instead of being with Tsuge, considering that she had a date with the boy tonight. Hiromi just smiled at her the darker brunette's question.

"Well, seeing as you weren't feeling well at school, Tsuge and I decided to pay you a visit and maybe help take care of you. I, also, feel guilty for getting you sick," that's when Hiromi noticed who was sitting next to Haru, "Hi Baron." She waved. The dapper cat smiled softly and tipped his top hat towards her before a sneeze escaped for like the millionth time that day. Hiromi just blinked at how terrible the half-cat looked.

"Are you sick too, Baron?" the lighter brunette asked as the cat shivered intensely.

"Unfortunately… (cough)(cough)(cough)… yes. Although, I don't think I have the same cold as Miss Haru does." He stated softly. He was on the verge of drifting into subconsciousness from how numb he felt. The numbness is what made him feel tired all day. Hiromi just let out a sigh. Then, she turned to the door.

"TSUGE!" she called out. Haru and Baron winced at the volume of her voice. It sounded so shrill in their thought processes. Before they knew it, Tsuge was right behind Hiromi.

"Is everything alright, Hiromi?" he asked, not noticing the two sick people in the room. Sometimes, Haru thought that Tsuge could be a bit dense at times that really mattered.

"See for yourself." Hiromi gestured towards the two. That's when Tsuge finally noticed them, but he looked confused.

"I thought you said only Haru was sick. You didn't say anything about Baron being sick too." He stated. Hiromi just sighed for a second time. Haru thought back to the time when she introduced them to Baron.

Hiromi kept pestering Haru about a secret she was hiding. She didn't give a moments peace before she brought Tsuge into the mix. Letting out an exasperated sigh, she decided to ask Baron if she could a few more people with her secret. At first, Muta wasn't on board with the whole thing, considering he just ranted on about "not needing any more chickees running around the Bureau." But when she mentioned that Hiromi was a great cook, he was completely persuaded all in one go. Baron made sure that she was certain about her decision, and when she answered, complete honesty in her words, it made him smile, which in return sealed the deal for Haru. Another day led off with Haru leading Hiromi and her boyfriend throughout the Crossroads and down the long, and twisting, path that Muta took every time. Once they met Baron, Muta, and Toto, they didn't exactly react like Haru's mother did. They stood still as statues for a long time before Haru snapped them out of their stupor. She dreaded the after-effect. Hiromi instantly glomped Baron and proceeded to squeeze the living daylights out of him, mentioning how handsome and cute he was all at the same time. Tsuge reacted better and just understood what Haru was hiding and why she wanted to keep it a secret. After he promised to keep it secret too, Haru was happy that she could trust them with this experience. When she turned to look at Hiromi and Baron, she noticed how Baron looked a bit blue. Shocked beyond words, she knew Baron wasn't breathing. It took a few seconds to get Hiromi off of Baron, and when it was done, Baron was balancing himself on his knees, breathing heavily to bring the desired oxygen back into his lungs. He may be a Creation, but he still needed to breathe like everyone else.

Haru reminisced on that memory for a few seconds before she realized that she, unconsciously, laid her head on Baron's shoulder. But, she didn't care. She was sick, so she didn't really act the same way as she usually did. Hiromi walked over to them and knelt to the floor. Baron felt a sensation come from his feet. He looked down to see the lighter brunette slipping his shoes off his feet.

"Sorry Baron. It's a Japanese custom (not actually sure if it is or not) that shoes not be allowed on while in the house." Hiromi said. Baron just nodded his head in understanding before another sneeze came out.

Hiromi extended her hand out to Haru, and once the darker brunette took it, she was pulled to her feet. Hiromi had Haru around her shoulders as they walked out of the room. Tsuge did the same thing with Baron. As they headed downstairs, Baron could smell something palatable wading its way into his nostrils. He sighed at the smell, and Tsuge just chuckled at the cat's antics.

Reaching the living room, they noticed that Naoko was setting the table, placing bowls on top. She noticed them coming down and saw an extra guest with them.

"Oh, Baron. I didn't know you were here too. Not to mention human size to boot." She stated. Baron tipped his hat in her direction and smiled.

"He came here with Toto about seventeen minutes ago. He's also sick." Haru mentioned. Naoko just smiled.

"Well then. I'd better prepare another bowl of soup, so that he can join us." She stated as she made her way back into the kitchen. It was a bit crowded with only five people, but Haru didn't mind having the company she was presented with as of this moment. Hiromi and Tsuge placed Haru and Baron in two chairs, next to each other in the process, while Hiromi placed Baron's shoes by the front door where all the other pairs remained. Tsuge took the extra bowl out of Naoko's hands and placed it in front of the cat. Baron muttered a thank you to the boy and received a nod as acknowledgement. Within the span of four minutes, everyone was seated at the table.

"Now then, since we are here to take care of you two," Naoko gestured to Haru and Baron, "why don't we dig in?" Everyone was in agreement as they gave their thanks for the food. It may have just been soup, but it smelled heavenly in the minds of two certain sick people. When it reached their mouths, they were in ecstasy. It was a little hot, but it didn't stop them from continuously spooning the broth into their mouths, with manners remaining in the process. Naoko just smiled Haru and Baron's antics and knew they were enjoying the meal, especially from being sick. She already knew Haru loved her cooking, but to see Baron enjoying it the way he looked was enough to warm her heart at the sight. Before either of them knew it, they had finished their bowls before the other three at the table could get halfway through it. Smiling a little sheepishly, Haru glanced at her mother.

"Would it be possible to have seconds?" she asked. Naoko just chuckled before she grabbed both bowls and headed into the kitchen again where she filled them up with more soup.

"If you eat anymore than at least thirds, you'll be leaving us without any portions while having a stomachache to worry about also." She stated. Baron just weakly smiled at the banter between mother and daughter before he picked up his spoon and brought it to his mouth. For the first time in the entire day, he felt like he was in heaven. What made it better was the darker brunette sitting next to him, although he would never mention that out loud.


	3. Author's Note (Temporary)

Author's Note: Ok, it's been about six months since I've last updated, and I've lost a bit of my creativity for this story. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone who actually read the two chapters had an idea to improve or continue this story. Like I said, this was my first attempt at humor, and I was glad I got one-or-two reviews from this. So, I would appreciate if anyone could help me out, and like all professional authors, I can give credit to those who do. Hope I can get a response. Thanks for listening.


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